Documentation
Day 1: 11/28/16
During the first day of our research we looked at the model rocket types and how some designs are better than others. Also we did some basic research on what materials are good to use along with the fuels that are good for a rocket. We are exploring options and primarily have expanded our knowledge of rockets and how they work.
Day 2: 11/29/16
Today we gave out our roles and talked about some ideas that might be a good fit. We googled some design ideas for a better idea on how we were going to design our final concept for our rocket. We also shared our research and ideas that we had for any aspect of the design process for making this rocket.
Day 3: 11/30/16
Today we started working on our sketch-up model for a good idea as of what our model will generally look like. As well as working on the details of our website. We also again like yesterday collaborated and shared our own ideas for the rocket design.
Day 4: 12/1/16
Today we researched more on the parts for our rocket and what we were going to use to build it. We researched more ideas on how to be able to safely land the human (egg) without it getting damaged. We also looked into our 3D design more and changed a few things about it. We also went on amazon to look at a nose cone the holds our egg, its a great design but we need to figure out how we want to piece it together with our existing design. We also started to draw a 2D design for our rocket
Day 5: 12/2/16
Today we mostly edited our website and generated more ideas for our rocket design. We also worked on our 2D and 3D designs and added more details to them. This is how our website will be set up through out the rest of the project.
Day 6: 12/5/16
Today we made some more changes to our 3D model to try and make it more final, while doing this we found out making a dome shape is very hard in sketchup. We also are in the process of making a material list so we can start to bring in the materials for our first egg drop test. We decided that we will purchase a nose cone that will hold our egg. We also changed our 2D model to match our 3D one and add more details to both of those models as well for more accuracy on what the final product is actually going to look like.
Day 7: 12/6/16
Today we discussed our ideas for the design of our rocket, as well as the materials we will need to have like foam for our nose cone and the bracing. Logan got to work on the 3D model of our nose cone, and this took some time because it needed to be precise so it would fit the body of our rocket. We all also went over the measurements of everything in our so we can figure out the height of our rocket once all the pieces are put together.
Day 8: 12/7/16
Today we edited more on our sketch up model as well as gathering our materials so we can start putting some parts of our rocket together. We finished the 3D model and plan to print it as soon as possible. Case brought in bubble wrap and a sponge, Will brought in some bubble wrap as well. We made a deal with Noah's group asking for help with the 3D model and in return we'd give him some bubble wrap which they needed. Bubble wrap was not supplied so we decided to bring some of our own. Also, we started on our orthographic drawings and got a decent part of them done, these are taking longer than we expected.
Day 9: 12/8/16
Today we started to build the parts of the rocket we could with the materials that we had. We also submitted our nose cone that we have to 3D print so we could have that done as soon as possible. We also resumed working on our orthographic drawing which takes a long time if we don't get it perfect. We started also on our landing contraption for the egg to make sure that it doesn't crack on it's way down.
Day 10: 12/9/16
Today we really had to work on our orthographic drawing and our landing contraption as much as possible to be ready by the 13th which is egg drop testing day. Our nose cone is printing today and it's taking a lot longer than expected so we're going to fit that into our design on monday and see how that works. We glued the bubble wrap and sponge to the base of our rocket with super glue to make sure it stays. The nose cone will need to be put into the assembly Monday at the earliest time possible. We need to do this because this will complete our egg drop system.
Day 11: 12/12/16
Today we had to get our prototype done so we can test it tomorrow (the 13th). We were able to take a good look at our 3D printed nose cone and implement that into our design now that we actually have it made. But we have to make some revisions on our nose cone since it doesn't exactly fit how we originally wanted it to. So we asked Noah for some more help to make our nose cone how we want it. We also worked on getting the parachute cut out of the template and attached to our model. We realized that our nose cone needs to be an actual straight cone and not a curved one like it was before so it'll turn out right when we 3D print it. We also started to work on the developing a solution step of the engineering design process part of our website.
Day 12: 12/13/16
Today was egg drop testing day and our contraption actually worked! When it hit the ground we actually thought that the egg broke because it sounded like something cracked, but when we opened it up the egg was just fine and it was the bubble wrap that made the sound along with the nose cone hitting the ground.
Day 13: 12/14/16
Today we started to make some changes to our design, mostly our parachute, and Case was able to get the engine and start putting it together so we can put it in our rocket as soon as possible to be ready by the 21st. We also changed the design of our website so it was more organized so instead of it being one giant page it's multiple. We noticed as well that it's very difficult to put the engine inside of the thin clear tube that is given to us, so we'll have to work something out with that.
Day 14: 12/15/16
Today we're trying to get the engine inside of the engine mount and put that into our design, which can be very difficult. We're again trying to make our website more aesthetically pleasing so it doesn't look like a giant mess of information. We did eventually manage to get the engine inside after a lot of time and reshaping.
Day 15: 12/16/16
Today we worked more on our design and it's engine. Since we've gotten the engine in the clear tube holder we're able to put that in our model body. We also again worked a lot on our website to make it the best that we can make it. Mrs. Frantz also came by at the end of class to talk to us about center of pressure and how to calculate it for our rockets since there has been a huge struggle with that.
Day 16: 12/19/16
Today we had a lot of work to do; we mainly had to work on our rocket and the parts that it needs added. As well as major, major work on the website since it's not very professional. We also had to restart on our orthographic drawing since we have no idea where the one we already had went. Will also started to calculate the center of pressure from the help we got from Mrs. Frantz on Friday, the 16th.
Day 17: 12/19/16
Today we started the final process which is assembling every part of our rocket. The was easy process since everything fit together rather well. We also worked more on the website so it'll be done by tomorrow.
Day 18: 12/20/16
Today is our last day to work on our website and our rocket so we have to make sure that everything is final and complete by the end of today. We added a hook that will attach to the parachute and a piece that will connect to the launching mechanism.
Day 19 (Added extra day): 1/3/17
So today, because of some tests that have been done, everyone had to redesign some parts of the rockets. Our rocket now has to weigh a max of 3.0 grams or less instead of 4.0 like it was before. Also instead of using a regular egg, we have to use a quail egg to we had to work around that because of the added weight and smaller size. The quail egg is also a lot more fragile than a chicken egg so we have to be more careful when redesigning our landing contraption. The quail egg weighs at about an average of 0.5 ounces because these are a little bit bigger than normal quail eggs. So we decided to cut some weight off my cutting some parts of the clear tube inside of our rocket since that's what mainly taking up all of that weight. We're also shaving off part of the end of our nose cone, because a lot of that hangs off the side and we need to loose as much weight as possible off our design without changing anything drastic and messing up everything. There is a possibility that we have to cut off a part of the top cylinder of our rocket since we currently just need 0.1 ounces less until we get to 3.0 ounces. But if we did that then we would have to recalculate the center of pressure and that can be really time consuming, but it's the only way to get rid of that extra weight so we kind of have to do it.
It may look exactly the same, but you can see the whole base is a little bit shorter since we had a lot of extra room there. It was also our last solution to getting rid of all that extra weight to bring out rocket down to 3 ounces for it's weight so when it launches, the nose cone will come off, based off of the tests that were made.
Day 20: 1/4/17 LAUNCH DAY!
These are the 2 videos of our launch
Before Remodeling
Final Design